'Above Atlas his Shoulders' -Thomas Browne's Worldview

The English doctor-philosopher and literary figure Thomas Browne (1605-1682) held a unique understanding and view of the world which is rewarding to explore through the perspective of geography.

Its in Religio Medici  or ‘The Religion of a Doctor’ (1643) that Thomas Browne describes himself as a  microcosm or little world, as well as informing his reader that he possessed a globe.

‘the world that I regard is myself. It is the microcosm of my own frame that I cast my eye upon. For the other I use it but like my globe and turn it round sometimes for my recreation. Men that look upon my outside, perusing only my condition and fortunes do err in my altitude. For I am above Atlas his shoulders’. [1]

By saying he is 'above Atlas' Browne implies that as a microcosm or little world he has transcended the burden of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.  

The large-scale sculpture known as the Farnese Atlas (header photo) dating from the second century of the Common Era depicts Atlas's fate. In the Greek myth of Atlas, the giant is condemned by the gods to hold a globe—sometimes celestial, sometimes terrestrial—on his shoulders for eternity. 

During Browne’s era globes were sold in pairs: one showing the earth, the other of the heavens. The mapping of the night sky was far more detailed and accurate than the rough depictions of remote and little-known regions of Earth. 

The ancient Greek Strabo (64 or 63 BC – c. 24 AD) was the author of a vast work on geography. Written during the early Roman Empire, Strabo's encyclopaedic work consists of political, economic, social, cultural, and geographic descriptions. Its  the only surviving ancient text to describe the entire inhabited world known to the Roman world.  In Strabo's map of the  world the British Isles can be seen. (above) [2] 

Also listed as once in Browne’s library is Gerard Mercator’s epic world map of 1569. (below) [3]  Mercator's projection laid out the globe as a flattened version of a cylinder. His map, with its Mercator projection, was designed to help sailors navigate around the globe using its longitude meridian lines to plot a straight route. It was Dutch map-making and cartography which was crucial for Dutch explorers. 

Following their independence from Spanish rule in 1588 the newly formed Dutch Republic grew prosperous and expanded with overseas territory, notably in the East Indies. The Northern European port of Amsterdam became one of Europe’s busiest trading centres and superseded Venice as an importing and exporting  port in the 17th century. Just as during the Middle Ages the sea port of Venice was a major European trading centre with its network of canals used to convey and store imported goods to merchant’s storehouses from the Near East, so too Amsterdam with its man-made network of canals became the predominant sea and trading port in the 17th century. 

The 16th/ 17th centuries were an era of great exploration and discovery, notably through adventurers such as Olivier van Noort the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world -  Willem Schouten the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean , Cornelis de Houtman, who explored the East Indies -  Willem Janszoon  the first European to  see the coast of Australia in 1606 and Cornelis Nay, explorer of the Arctic - The most notable Dutch explorer of the 17th century was Abel Tasman  the first European to discover New Zealand and Fiji. The Dutch also made important contributions to horticulture, land reclamation, and art throughout the 17th century. 

  

Dutch engraver Pieter van den Keere’s 12 sheet map of 1611 (above) was wall mounted. Its border shows 14 cities and the rulers of seven nations. Stylized pairs of figures in the national costume of national cultures are also depicted on it. 

Its often said that the 16th/17th centuries were advanced through three driving inventions- Printing , the Mariner’s Compass and Gunpowder, each of which transformed the lives of many in this era. 

Thomas Browne’s own life spanned not only the Dutch 'Golden Age' but also England’s most traumatic century. Born weeks before the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, he lived through the events of the English Civil war, the execution of King Charles, the Commonwealth of Cromwell, the subsequent Restoration of Monarchy, the Great plague of 1665 and the Fire of London in 1666. 

From his residence for an academic year in Montpellier in France, Padua in Italy and Leyden in Holland Browne acquired a privileged education and an appreciation of other cultures. His celebrated tolerance adhered to the maxim of ‘when in Rome do as the Romans’ as regards cuisine and food, as he frankly tells his reader -

‘I wonder not at the French for their dishes of frogs and toadstools, nor at the Jew for locusts and grasshoppers but being amongst them make them my common viands. And I find they agree with my stomach as well as theirs.’ [4]

Of greater importance Browne also recognised a major cause of hatred, one which remains so to the present day, that of nationalism. Nationalism, if zealous, encourages those who, purely from an accident of birth to consider their own nation to be the World’s best, and to dislike or even hate other Nationalities, often without having ever visited or even met anyone from the country which they hate. Browne’s continental education inoculated him against this prejudice, as he informs us-

‘I find not in me those common antipathies I discover in others. Those national repugnances do not touch me, nor do I behold with prejudice, the French, Italian, Spaniard or Dutch. But where I find their actions in balance with my countrymen, I honour love and embrace them to the same degree. All places, all airs are unto me one country, I am in England everywhere under any meridian’. [5]

Browne was able to give full expression to his interest in world geography, culture and customs in his subsequent work, the groundbreaking Pseudodoxia Epidemica which was first published in 1646. Its Latin title might loosely be translated as 'Pandemic of fake news'. Pseudodoxia is a pioneering work  and firmly in the vanguard of the early Scientific Revolution. Consisting in total  of over 200,000 words,  its sixth book addresses queries historical and geographical.  He points out that the terms East and West are dependent on where exactly one is located in the world and informs his reader on the botany and zoology of America. He also reveals an uncommon knowledge of cartography in discourse on the number of mouths of the Egyptian river Nile -   

'Ptolomy an Egyptian, and born at the Pelusian mouth of Nile, in his Geography maketh nine: and in the third Map of Africa, hath unto their mouths prefixed their several names; ..... wherein notwithstanding there are no less then three different names from those delivered by Pliny. ....Lastly, Whatever was or is their number, the contrivers of Cards and Maps afford us no assurance or constant description therein. For whereas Ptolomy hath set forth nine, Hondius in his Map of Africa, makes but eight, and in that of Europe ten. Ortelius in the Map of the Turkish Empire, setteth down eight, in that of Egypt eleven; and Maginus in his Map of that Country hath observed the same number. And if we enquire farther, we shall find the same diversity and discord in divers others'. [6]

Other prejudices which persist to this day are also tackled in Pseudodoxia - why do some people differ in the colour of their skin, why does the skin-pigmentation of American natives differ from African natives, as well as the thorny question- why does the religious prejudice of antisemitism persist ? He also recognised that what is considered to be beautiful in facial appearance and body decoration differs enormously between world cultures, stating-  

'Thus flat noses seem comely unto the Moore, an Aquiline or hawked one unto the Persian, a large and prominent nose unto the Romane; but none of all these are acceptable in our opinion. Thus some think it most ornamentall to wear their Bracelets on their Wrests, others say it is better to have them about their Ancles; some think it most comely to wear their Rings and Jewels in the Ear, others will have them about their Privities; a third will not think they are compleat except they hang them in their lips, cheeks or noses'.  [7]

One of the best gateways to understanding of a different culture is through learning its language. The Reverend Whitefoot, who was Browne’s lifelong friend, informs us that his friend was familiar with all the languages printed in Hutter’s polyglot New Testament of 1599. Hutter’s New Testament (above) includes the languages of Syrian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Danish and Polish. These 12 languages are printed in side-by-side-columns of 3 languages per page. Hutter’s polyglot Bible encouraged Christians to read and study the Hebrew language. Browne’s own interest in Hebrew was instrumental in his study of the esoteric lore of the Kabbalah. [8] 

With his deep interest in languages Browne was well-equipped to introduce badly needed new words, often of a scientific nature into English language. Although its not quite a foreign language he also took an interest in the peculiarities of the Norfolk dialect and noted these words to be in common use in Norfolk such as Bunny,   Mawther, Kedge, Seele, Straft, Matchly, Dere, Nicked, Gadwhacking Stingy,  Sap, Cothish, Thokish, and Paxwax. Strong traces of the Dutch tongue can be heard in Norfolk dialect to the present day.

Perhaps the most accessible of Browne’s works is his shortest work, A Letter to a Friend which was written as a bereavement consolation following the premature death of the English poet Richard Lovelace (1617-57) (above). A Letter to a Friend features numerous medical case-histories and opens with the demographic calculation that in the whole world ‘there dieth one thousand an hour’. 

Browne was aware that geographic locations can affect people psychologically and he's credited as the first to identify the psychopathology of what is known today as Paris syndrome. 

Paris syndrome has been described as a severe form of culture shock and a sense of extreme disappointment experienced by only a handful per million when visiting Paris and is believed to be caused by factors such as language barrier, cultural differences, exhaustion and above all else, idealization. 

With his deep interest in unusual psychic phenomena and introduction of the words  'pathology' and 'hallucination' into the English language, Thomas Browne was well qualified to identify the phenomena of Paris syndrome. Within the following paragraph he names ten geographic locations, defines the ozone-rich air of East Anglia as 'Aerial Nitre', introduces the word 'migrant' into English and advises against 'infirm heads' that is, impressionable minds from visiting Venice or Paris. 

‘He was fruitlessly put in hope of advantage by change of Air, and imbibing the pure Aerial Nitre of these Parts; …..He is happily seated who lives in Places whose Air, Earth, and Water, promote not the Infirmities of his weaker Parts, …..He that is weak-legg'd must not be in Love with Rome, nor an infirm Head with Venice or Paris. Death hath not only particular Stars in Heaven, but malevolent Places on Earth,…..in which Concern, passager and migrant Birds have the great Advantages; who are naturally constituted for distant Habitations, whom no Seas nor Places limit, but in their appointed Seasons will visit us from Greenland and Mount Atlas, and as some think, even from the Antipodes. [9]

Browne’s speculation on the migration routes of birds is a reminder of his keen interest in feathered creatures. At one time of another he kept an owl, a cormorant, a kestrel and an eagle. He's also credited with introducing the word 'incubation' into English. It was in his lifetime that one of the first recorded extinctions of a species of bird occurred.

 

The first recorded mention of the flightless bird known as the dodo was in 1598 by Dutch sailors when they discovered Mauritius, a small island near Madagascar which was a useful stopping-off point for Dutch sailors en route to the East Indies. Because the Dodo is a flightless it was easily captured by hungry sailors. Browne’s contemporary the Royalist politician, Sir Hamon L’Estrange of Hunstanton in Norfolk wrote of a dodo he saw exhibited  in London in 1638. 

‘About 1638, as I walked London streets, I saw the picture of a strange fowl hung out upon a cloth canvas, and myself, with one or two more then in company, went in to see it. It was kept in a chamber, and was somewhat bigger than the largest turkey-cock, and so legged and footed, but stouter and thicker, and of a more erect shape, coloured before like the breast of a young cock-fesan, and on the back of a dunne or deare colour. The keeper called it a dodo; and in the end of a chimney in the chamber there lay a heap of large pebble-stones, whereof he gave it many in our sight, some as big as nutmegs; and the keeper told us she eats them (conducing to digestion); and though I  remember not how far the keeper was questioned therein, yet I am confident that afterwards she cast them all again.

 The last recorded sighting of a dodo was in 1662. The bird was immortalized by Lewis Carroll in his ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ The character of the dodo is believed to be inspired by a specimen of a dodo exhibited in the Oxford University Museum which Carroll frequently visited.

Exploring world cultures can be enriched through collecting artifacts from near and far, whether it's treasures gathered during travels or acquired locally. In an era long before photography, those with means could hire artists to capture the essence of these treasured possessions, preserving memories of exotic journeys and far-off lands. 

Sir Robert Paston of Oxnead Hall, near Alysham commissioned an unknown Dutch artist to paint a selected fraction of his collection of art-objects, some of which were acquired when his father visited Jerusalem and Cairo. Dating from circa 1665 The Paston Treasure (above) has a Multi-layered narrative, its simultaneously, a record of the Robert Paston’s collection, a Vanitas painting and a microcosm of the world in the 17th century, as hinted by the prominent position of a globe. Browne would have seen this painting when visiting the Paston’s and given that in Religio Medici he confesses,  'I can look a whole day with delight upon a handsome picture, though it be but of an horse’ he would  without doubt delighted in viewing it. 

The world’s continents are represented in The Paston Treasure by - a packet of tobacco from America, a boy and parrot from Africa, and a porcelain dish from Asia. Sculptures and gems, gold, silver and enamel, as well as music instruments of a bass viol, sackbut, violin and lute can also be seen. The peaches, grapes and oranges, along with lobster, suggest a luxurious lifestyle. 

The Paston Treasure also expresses a moral warning -  life has sudden, unexpected disturbances - the servant is disrupted from his duties by a monkey which has jumped onto his shoulder, the young girl is interrupted from her singing by a parrot alighting on the music she’s reading.. In recent years The Paston Treasure has been restored, exhibited in America and studied in depth by the art-historian Spike Bucklow in his excellent, insightful book. Today, it can be seen in Norwich Castle Museum.

Its only in recent decades that topics such as alchemy and the esoteric in general have been taken seriously by academics. Spike Bucklow is the first in over three and a half centuries to identify that The Paston Treasure displays a mounted shell cup (above) with a very clear image of Atalanta in the act of running. Bucklow notes, 'It is as if Sir Robert had put this shell in the painting to draw attention to a book that guided his alchemical journey', the book in question being Michael Maier's alchemical work Atalanta Fugiens (1617). [10]

One unique feature of Browne’s prose is his usage of geographical places and historical persons as symbols. For example he describes the difficulties in his compiling an encyclopaedia, as, 'oft-times fain to wander in the America and untravelled parts of truth'. Geographical place name symbols along with historical persons symbols can be found in Browne’s  philosophical work, the two-in-one diptych discourses of 1658, Urn-Burial and The Garden of Cyrus. 

These two 17th century images, the Nigredo stage of the alchemical operation (left)  and 'The Garden of Mathematical Delights'( right) both from books once in Browne's library, are I believe, excellent visual representations of the thematic concerns and mood music of each respective discourse. (Click on picture to enlarge). 

The melancholic, Grave and Saturnine meditations upon human suffering in Urn-Burial are ‘answered’ by the Mercurial Garden delights of Cyrus. A multiplicity of opposition or polarities occur in Browne’s literary diptych, in  their respective themes, imagery, truth and literary style. Urn-Burial opens 'in the deep discovery of the subterranean world' and concerns itself with the oblivion of Time, in complete contrast The Garden of Cyrus concerns itself with Space and opens with ‘shooting rays and diffused light’ of the Creation before continuing in speculation on the geographical location of the Garden of Eden.  [11]

In Browne’s geographical symbolism America invariably symbolizes the new, the unknown and exotic.  In contrast the proper place name of Persia is used as a symbol of magic and esoteric wisdom. These two geographical symbols are juxtaposed in a startling way at the conclusion of The Garden of Cyrus - in doing Browne highlights how Humankind’s collective consciousness ebbs and flows between those who are waking up and conscious while others fall asleep and are unconscious.

‘The huntsmen are up in America and they are already past their first sleep in Persia'.

But perhaps the most famous example of Browne’s geographical symbolism occurs in Religio Medici,  where he inspirationally declares – ‘We carry within us, the wonders we seek without us.There is all Africa and her prodigies in us’. [12]  

The psychologist Carl Jung when hearing this quote while visiting Kenya, East Africa,  was impressed and immediately made note of it. Actually there’s a fascinating relationship between the famous Swiss psychologist Jung to Browne, both were doctors interested in  the interpretation of dreams, both read esoteric authors and both were interested in the geography of the mind, and mapping of the psyche’s contents. [13]

Together, Urn-Burial and The Garden of Cyrus are Browne’s great work of psychology. Historical personages are employed by him as symbols in order to illustrate archetypes, that is, the first, original forms of the psyche as envisioned by Plato and Hermetic philosophers. Browne’s proto-psychology  attempts in Cyrus to delineate the archetype of the wise ruler through historical name symbolism, mentioning Moses, Solomon, Abraham, Alexandria the Great and the titular Cyrus as exemplars of the wise ruler. Women aren’t overlooked in his proto-psychology, the archetype of the 'Great Mother' is sketched through inclusion of the nurturing Old Testament matriarch Sarah, the Roman goddess Juno and the Egyptian goddess Isis.   

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With the colonization of South America by the Spanish and Portuguese in the seventeenth century, as well as European migration to North America, along with the opening of trading routes to the East Indies and China, an abundance of published reports upon exotic flora and fauna became available to the physician. Tobacco and the potato were early exports from America  to Europe throughout the 17th century.

It was the Swiss alchemist-physician Paracelsus (above) who encouraged his fellow physicians to experiment with substances from the vegetable, mineral and animal kingdoms in order to discover new medicines and new cures. We can be confident that Doctor Browne of Norwich was a committed follower of Paracelsus (1493-1541), not only are the 'Luther of Medicine''s bulky writings listed as once in his vast library but the very word used by Paracelsus to describe his distinctive kind of medical alchemy, known as spa-gyric ( meaning to separate and conjoin) can be seen inscribed upon Browne's coffin-plate, one half of which survives on display at Saint Peter Mancroft. The distinguished Canadian physician Sir William Osler (1849-1919) who was a great admirer of Browne commissioned a replica of this brass Coffin-plate. It can be seen at the Norfolk and Norwich Sir Thomas Browne Medical Library. [14]

 

A great example of Browne’s following Paracelsian medicine occurs in his assessment of so-called Peruvian Bark, the source of the drug known  today as Quinine.

A Jesuit priest is credited as among the first to observe that the Inca people use a diffusion of the bark from the cinchona tree to ease the symptoms of malaria. Indeed the original Inca word for the cinchona tree bark, 'quina' or 'quina-quina'  which roughly translates as 'bark of bark' or 'holy bark'. In 1638, the wife of a Peruvian viceroy used the bark to relieve her fever-induced symptoms during the onset of malaria. Her remedy was called a 'miracle cure'. By 1658 an English newspaper advertised -  'The excellent powder known by the name of 'Jesuits' powder' may be obtained from several London chemists'. 

Although Peruvian Bark was hailed as a successful medicine for malaria due to religious prejudice it was not officially recognised in England until 1677. Because it was known as 'Jesuits' Powder' it was tainted with associated with Catholicism. Even among the educated such as King Charles the Second, who took an active interest in the new scientific enquiry advanced by the Royal Society, was suspicious of 'Jesuit's Powder' because of its presumed association with Catholicism. However when the King suffered from a malarial fever he consulted a Mr Robert Talbor who was obliged to give the King the bitter bark decoction in great secrecy. The treatment completely relieved King Charles from malarial fever and he rewarded Talbor handsomely with a lifetimes membership of the newly-formed Royal Society. 

Several 17th century English physicians were interested in reports of the healing qualities of Peruvian Bark, especially those who lived in regions prone to the spread of malaria; East Anglia with its marshes, broads, large tracts of low-laying land and slow-flowing, stagnant stretches of water was an ideal habitat for the spread of the insect-borne virus. 

In correspondence to his youngest son nicknamed ‘Honest Tom’  Browne requested of him - 

'When you are at Cales, see if you can get a box of the Jesuits' powder at easier rate, and bring it in the bark, not in powder'. [15]

Browne’s request to obtain Jesuits' powder from a Continental source and not from London suggests he knew that the thriving trade in Peruvian Bark was vulnerable to dilution by apothecaries. His insistence on bark and not powder also suggests he was familiar with Peruvian Bark's composition. His assessment of Peruvian bark in an undated letter is considered one of the most detailed in British medical history-

Another new substance introduced to Europe, in this case through trade with China, was the root known as Ginseng.

  

Because the shape of the fleshy Ginseng root resembles the torso and limbs of a human, all kinds of medical and healing properties have been attributed to it. Widely cultivated in China for centuries Ginseng is used in Chinese medicine as a muscle relaxant.  In correspondence to his eldest son Edward, Dr. Browne wrote-

Deare Sonne, - You did well to observe Ginseng. All exotick rarities, especially of the east, the East India trade having encreased, are brought in England, and the profitt made therof. Of this plant Kircherus writeth in his China illustrata. [16] Today ginseng is scientifically recognised for its anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant properties

Throughout the 1650s and 1660s England found itself embroiled in conflict with the newly-emerging economic power and global trade of the Dutch Republic. British resentment towards the newly emerging European power is perceptively articulated by the art-historian Simon Schama, who noted of Johan De Witt, the chief negotiator for the peace treaty of the Second Anglo-Dutch War -

‘British enmity, on the other hand, he knew to be chronic and rooted in the very nature of the Republic’s existence, or at least  its prosperity. The problem, he supposed in common with many of his compatriots, was that, in matters of trade, the British were poor losers. Unable to match the Dutch in resourcefulness, industry, or technical ingenuity, they were prepared to bludgeon their way to wealth by the assertion of deliberately bellicose principles and by interfering with the freedom of trade. Peevish envy had turned them into a gang of unscrupulous ruffians who would stop at nothing to burglarize the Dutch warehouse, pretending all the time that some cherished issue of sovereignty had been infringed. [17] 

One of Browne’s greatest personal tragedies was hearing from the British Admiralty that his son Midshipman Thomas, ‘Honest Tom’ had been lost in action and presumed dead aged 21. 

A solitary piece by Browne, written for the entertainment of young Midshipman Tom survives. 'The Sea-battle’ is a vivid narration of an ancient world Sea-battle. Written in Latin its conclusion is a valuable insight on a primary cause of war. 

'The cause of this war was that of all wars, excess of prosperity. As wealth arises spirits rise, and lust and greed of power appear; thence men lose theiir sense of moderation, look with distaste on the prosperity of others, revolve disquiet in their mind, and throw overall settlement, for fear lest their enemies’ wealth be firmly established, they put their own to risk; and finally (as happens in human affairs) fall into slavery when they seek to impose it, and earnestly courting good fortune, experience disaster.' [18]

In his old age Browne seems to have taken an even greater interest in traveller’s accounts of exotic locations and newly discovered lands. Its testimony to his eldest daughter Elizabeth’s education, patience and devotion that her father recorded the following in his Commonplace notebooks –

‘Books which my daughter Elizabeth hath read unto me at nights till she read them all out -All the Turkish historie - All the history of China - All the travels  of Olerarius and Mandelslo -All the travels of Taverniere - All the Travels of Petrus della valle - All the travels of Vincent Le Blanc -All Sandys his travels  - All the travels of Pinto - All the travels of Gage - -All the history of Naples -All the history of Venice - Some hundreds of sermons. Many other Books, Treatises, discourses of several kinds. [19]

But perhaps the traveller Dr. Browne took the greatest interest in was his eldest son, Edward Browne (1644-1708). In 1668 Edward made a tour of Holland and Germany visiting museums, libraries, and churches. When later based in Vienna he made three long journeys, one to the mines of Hungary, one to Thessaly, another into Styria and Carinthia. Wherever Edward Browne travelled he acted as the dutiful eyes and ears of his father, who instructed him with advice such as- 

'Take notice of the various Animals, of places, beasts, fowles, & fishes; what the Danube affordeth, what depth, if conveniency offers, of mines, minerall works, Beside naturall things you may enquire into politicall & the government & state & subsistence of citties, townes & countries… observe how the Dutch make defences agaynst sea inundations…' [20] 

Also included among the travel books in Browne’s vast library is Thomas Fuller’s guide to the sights and places of the holy land of Palestine.  Fuller's book A Pis-pah Sight was important in its day and includes a detailed account of the geography and history of Palestine. Incidentally, it was Thomas Fuller in his Worthies of England who described the Norwich of Browne's day to be, 'either a city in an orchard, or an orchard in a city, so equal are houses and trees blended in it'. [21]

Another noteworthy geography book  once in Browne’s library is Athanasius Kircher’s China Illustrata. Dating from 1665 China illustrata was printed in Amsterdam. A work of encyclopaedic breadth, it included accurate maps as well as mythical creatures. It drew heavily on reports by Jesuit missionaries who worked in China. Kircher’s book remained the most informative source on China for over two centuries. [22]

In the above illustration Chinese botany and horticulture, costume and customs, along with architecture, are all faithfully recorded from an eyewitness account of a social gathering, a feast upon giant jackfruit.

It may well have been while turning his globe round sometime for his recreation that Browne was inspi to pen his ‘Prophecy concerning the future State of Several Nations’ . It was written after the Pandemic of Bubonic plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666 in which an estimated one hundred thousand people perished, some twenty percent of London’s entire population perished. In all probability it was inspired after he was shown a copy of the French doctor Nostradamus’s prophecies, the first translation  English into English in 1672. 

In his doggerel verse and parody of Nostradamus’s barely intelligible prophecies Browne makes some astounding predictions, which are based upon nothing more than the solid combination of rational conjecture and a deep knowledge of geography and history. In one of its seven rhyming couplets Browne questions the morality of the growing Slave-trade, long before its eventual abolition –

'When Africa shall no longer sell out its Blacks/to be Slaves and drudges to the American Tracts'. 

At a time when it was only a fledgling colony, Browne predicted that one day America would become Europe’s economic equal -

'When the New World shall the old invade/ nor count them their Lords but their Fellows in Trade'.

Remarkably, he also 'predicted’ that America would one day become a Nation which pursued happiness and engage in economic protectionism. 

'When America shall cease to send out its treasure/but employ it instead in American Pleasure’.  [23]

Browne's miscellaneous tract known as Museum Clausum his solitary work of fiction, an inventory of lost, rumoured and imaginary books, pictures and objects, also includes geographical speculations.  In the 16th century, the voyage of Hanno saw increased scholarly interest in an age when European exploration and navigation were flourishing. Already then, the extent of Hanno's voyage was debated. Browne makes mention of the explorer Hanno in Museum Clausum thus -

'A learned Comment upon the Periplus of Hanno the Carthaginian, or his Navigation upon the Western Coast of Africa, with the several places he landed at; what Colonies he settled, what Ships were scattered from his Fleet near the Equinoctial Line, which were not afterward heard of, and which probably fell into the Trade Winds, and were carried over into the Coast of America'. [24]

In all probability its through his friendship with the Icelandic Lutheran minister Theodor Johannsson that Browne also includes in Museum Clausum  - 

'A Snow Piece, of Land and Trees covered with Snow and Ice, and Mountains of Ice floating in the Sea, with Bears, Seals, Foxes, and variety of rare Fowls upon them'. [25]

Browne’s view of the world's future  was one which was, ‘not like to envy those that shall live in the next, much less three or four hundred Years hence, when no Man can comfortably imagine what Face this World will carry: [26]

He was aware of several disastrous scenarios which threaten life on Earth and knew that an increase in global traffic has medical implications, stating in A Letter to  a Friend- ‘New Discoveries of the Earth discover new Diseases'. He knew of  the threat of asteroids from outer Space impacting Earth, and wrote of ‘a mighty stone falling from the clouds which antiquity could believe Anaxagoras was able to foretell half a year before’. [27] And also made the sombre cosmological observation that - 'The created world is but a small parenthesis in Eternity.’ [28]

Before revealing what is arguably one of Browne’s greatest linguistic contributions to our modern age, its worthwhile remembering that while today he’s often promoted for his scientific profile, Browne’s worldview in essence was a synthesis of a deeply held Christian faith, adherence to hermetic philosophy and scientific empirical enquiry. There’s far greater value in reading Browne today for his moral, psychological, and spiritual insights than his 'occular observation' of the natural world.  As a doctor, it’s the geography of the mind which interests him most. He would with little doubt whole-heartedly agreed with Carl Jung’s assertion that- ‘Science and technology have indeed conquered the world, but whether the psyche has gained anything is another matter'. [29]

The Garden of Cyrus (1658) has a frontispiece ‘borrowed’ from a book by one of Browne's favourite authors, the Italian polymath Giambattista Della Porta (1535-1615). Its Latin quotation reads, ‘What is more beautiful than the Quincunx, which, no matter how you view it, present straight lines’. 

The full running title of The Garden of Cyrus includes what is one of Browne’s greatest neologisms, one which is highly relevant to our modern age, that of ‘Network.’ He probably encountered the word ‘network’ from reading of the Bible where its used to describe the decorative and structural design of Solomon’s temple. What is certain is that Browne was the first to write about net-like or reticulated structures in subjects as diverse as art, architecture, metalwork, botany, marine life and anatomy, in order to illustrate his concept. It’s a word which underscores his hermetic belief in the interconnectivity of  all life-forms in the world.  In the 19th century usage of the word ‘network’ gathered steam  after the new railway routes of England were described as a network. Today in our increasingly inter-connected world the word ‘Network’, with its strong geographical associations, has expanded to include social, transport, communication and technological meanings. 

Here in Norwich today we can take pride in the fact that it was once the home of a polymath mind who observed and wrote of Networks, introducing it, among many others into English language. The word Network is exemplary, not only of Sir Thomas Browne’s contribution to scientific vocabulary but also his mystical ‘Above Atlas’  worldview.

Notes

This is a revised version of a talk centred upon Thomas Browne's view of the world through the perspective of geography  which was delivered on October 21st 2025 on behalf of the Norfolk Heritage Centre.

[1]  Religio Medici Part 1 Section 11 

(The academic C.A. Patrides also used the the phrase 'Above Atlas his shoulders' as the title for his excellent introduction to Browne's major works for  Penguin publications in 1977). 

[2] Strabo 17 books of Geography ed. Isaac Casaubon Paris 1620. 1711 Sales Catalogue page 7 no.55

[3] Sales Catalogue 5 no. 1, 2 

[4] Religio Medici Part 2 Section 1

[5] Ibid.

[6] Pseudodoxia Epidemica Book 6 On the River Nile

[7] Pseudodoxia Epidemica  Book  6 chapter 11

[8]  On Browne and the Kabbalah

[9] A Letter to a Friend

[10] The Paston Treasure - Spike Bucklow

[11] Nigredo (left) from Theatrum Chemicum Sales Catalogue  Page 25 no. 124 and  (right) Bettini Fucaria & Auctaria ad Apiria Philosophiae Mathematicae  S.c. page 28. no. 16

[12] Religio Medici Part 1 : 15

[13]  See Carl Jung and Sir Thomas Browne

[14] Paracelsus Opera S. C. page 22 no. 118

[15] Domestic Correspondence edited Keynes

[16] Ibid.

[17] Simon Schama  -The Embarrassment of Riches

[18] Miscellaneous Writings ed. Keynes

[19] Ibid.

[20] Edward Browne's travels are the subject of recent academic study by Anna Wyatt (See the excellent monograph 'wide excusions' by Anna Wyatt) which also stresses that Browne's daughters made no small contributions in assisting their father. 

[21]  Thomas Fuller's A Pisgah-sight, with maps  1650. 1711 Sales Catalogue p. 45  no. 73  

[22] China Illustrata  Amsterdam 1667 S. C . page 8 no. 93

[23]  Quotes from 'A Prophecy' Miscellaneous Tract 12

[24] Miscellaneous Tract 13

[25] Ibid

[26] A Letter to a Friend

[27] Museum Clausum

[28] Christian Morals Part 3 Section 29

[29] C.G. Jung - Collected Works vol. 10 'Civilization in Transition'.

 

Jupiter’s brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese

The English philosopher-physician Thomas Browne (1605-82) possessed refined senses. Along with his sharp eyesight and acute olfactory sense he also had a keen sense of taste. His notes on cookery in the ancient world, emphasis upon moderation in diet and experiments in cheese-making are all indicative of his interest in food. His notes on coagulation also reveal that he experimented with what is now considered to be a taboo ingredient in cheese-making.

Browne's gastronomical inclinations are evident in 'Notes on the cooking of the ancients' in which he declares his desire to know more about ancient world cuisine while also believing the food of his day to be superior -

'I wish we knew more clearly the aids of the ancients, their sauces, flavours, digestives, tasties, slices, cold meats, and all kinds of pickles. Yet I do not know whether they would have surpassed salted sturgeons’ eggs, anchovy sauce, or our royal pickles'. [1]

By 'aids of the ancients,' Browne is referring to the condiments, seasonings, and preserves used by ancient cultures to enhance the flavour and preservation of their food. These aids would have included garum, a fermented fish sauce used by the Romans, as well as various herbs and spices. Browne's taste-buds however object to herbs and spices infested by insects, and his 'stomach turned' from reading  in Apicius-

'I certainly, who think it torture to endure fat gnats and put far from my table cumin seed that is musty with bugs, would have had my stomach turned by the sausages, tripe, morsels and coarse greens of Apicius'.  

Apicius was the author of a collection of Roman-era cookery recipes De re culinaria (On Cooking). Compiled in the fifth century CE  it consists of ten books which discuss the role of the butcher and gardener in cuisine, pulse and legumes, four-legged animals and seafood. Its recipes catered for wealthy Romans and included exotic ingredients such as flamingo. 

Favouring once more modern cuisine to that of antiquity Browne also states in his cookery essay-

'Who would not prefer Bologna sausages to a paste of cuttle-fish and squid, or Spanish olla podrida to Apicius’ mince-meat?

Once more consulting his edition of Apicius he noted- 'We are impatient today of the boned chicken Apicius praises and think it food for the toothless'. 

Browne's cookery notes also includes one of the earliest mentions in Western literature of the Persian prophet Zoroaster (circa 7th/6th centuries BCE) the founder of the Persian religious movement of Zoroastrianism, when stating-

'Zoroaster’s dinner in the desert was known to the ancients as starvation, for it consisted of honey and cheese. Yet honey and cheese fill the sausages of Parthia and Numidia'.

Its with typical wit that Browne concludes thus -

'But when Ibycus in Athenaeus says that ambrosia was nine times sweeter than honey, let the palates of heaven keep their sweet, I prefer a fig from Chios'.

An edition of De re culinaria by Apicius printed in 1541 is listed as once in Browne's library. [2] (frontispiece below) 

The ancient Greek Athenaeus (late 2nd/early 3rd CE) is another important source of Browne's understanding of ancient world cuisine. In antiquity Naucratis was a bustling Egyptian harbour and a dynamic melting-pot of Greek and Egyptian art and culture. Its also the setting of his Deipnosophistae or 'The Banquet of the Philosophers' in which physicians, gourmets, philosophers, grammarians and parasites discuss topics such as -  Baths, Wine, invented words, feasts and music, useless philosophers, precious metals, flatterers, gluttony and drunkenness, hedonism and obesity, women and love, mistresses and courtesans, the cooking of fish and cuisine in general, as well as ships, entertainment, luxury and perfumes. Book seven of Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae focuses on an essential part of the healthy Mediterranean diet, sea food, along with methods of cooking various kinds of fish.  In all probability its from his reading of Athenaeus that Browne knew -

'The ancients took great care to keep octopus-head from their tables, while no one in our day would touch it'.

In total the 15 books of  'Banquet  of the  philosophers' mention almost 800 authors. Over 2,500 separate works in total are cited in it, making it a valuable source of numerous works of Greek literature which otherwise would have been lost. Athenaeus must have been one of Browne's favourite reads for he wrote a short essay in which he displays an uncommon familiarity with the ancient Greek author. A 1612 edition of Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae, or 'The Banquet of the Philosophers' edited by the Swiss philologist Isaac Casaubon is listed as once in Browne's library. [3]

Floris van Dyck, Still Life with Fruit, Nuts and Cheese, 1613, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands.

Browne viewed the cultivation of a sophisticated palate along with gluttony as morally reprehensible.  In a combination of morality and medical advice he warns of the danger of developing an over-refined palate in his late advisory Christian Morals-

'The luxurious emperors of old inconsiderately satiated themselves with the dainties of sea and land, till, wearied through all varieties, their reflections became a study unto them, and they were fain to feed by invention: novices in true Epicurism ! which, by mediocrity, paucity, quick and healthful appetite, makes delights smartly acceptable; whereby Epicurus himself found Jupiter’s brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese, and the tongues of nightingales in a dish of onions'. [4] 

The obscure imagery of 'Jupiter's brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese' is made clearer in Browne's note- 'They abstained from all heads in which the senses flourish, while yet they called any delicacy ‘Jove’s brain'. His addition of an explanatory footnote - 'Cerebrum Jovis a delicious bit', suggests he may well have had cheese in mind ! 

The Greek philosopher Epicurus who lived from 341-270 BCE in Athens, Greece reputedly once asked a friend to send him some Cythnian cheese, so that when he wishes he may give himself an expensive treat. Browne alludes approvingly to this modestly of diet in the form of low-fat feta cheese in his encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica thus-

'Who can but pity the virtuous Epicurus, who is commonly conceived to have placed his chief felicity in pleasure and sensual delights, and hath therefore left an infamous name behind him?........That he was contented with bread and water, and when he would dine with Jove, and pretend unto epulation, he desired no other addition then a piece of Cytheridian cheese'. [5] 

Browne's allusion to 'Cytheridian' cheese (an idiosyncratic spelling of Cytherian) alludes to the  Greek Ionian island of Cytherea, long renowned for its light, sheep's milk cheese known as Feta cheese (top header photo). His interest in Epicurean philosophy, in particular the idea of finding delight in simple pleasures such as a piece of Cytheridian (Cytherian) cheese serves to illustrate the true meaning of Epicureanism. Early Christians however saw the philosophy of Epicurus as threatening to their newly-formed religion, primarily because it rejected divine intervention in human affairs. They viewed Epicurus' teachings as hedonistic and atheistic and conflicting to their own beliefs about original sin, divine providence, and the importance of suffering. Browne is one several 17th century European authors  who strived to rehabilitate Epicurus, recognising his emphasis upon moderation as compatible to Christian values. 

Cheese in Literature

The importance of Cheese in human culture is evident in its being mentioned in the World's oldest literature. According to Greek mythology, the art of making cheese was given as a gift to men by the Olympian Gods. In Homer's Odyssey (circa 700 BCE) the utensils required and the process in making cheese are described thus-

And all his vessels, pails and hammered buckets he used for milking,were brimming full of whey...... Then down he squatted to milk his sheep and bleating goats. And half of the fresh white milk he curdled quickly, set aside in wicker racks to press for cheese. [6] 

In the Biblical book of Job (circa 500 BCE) the righteous man who experiences severe trials and afflictions laments to God -

'Remember that you moulded me like clay/Will you now turn me to dust again?/Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese'. [7]  

Coagulation

In his notebook observations on coagulation Browne speculates how to make cheese more nutritional - 'Whereby whey & cheese might be made more medical'. In his notes on coagulation, an essential process in cheese-making, he experiments with an ingredient considered taboo today. Its no vulgar titillation to take a closer look at his experiments with breast milk. He expresses clearly his intent to formulate a 'more medical' cheese', and he endeavoured to do so by experimenting with breast-milk. Although knowing that breast milk possesses medical benefits Browne didn't know as we do today, of the health hazards associated with sharing body fluids. He noted -

'Many coagulums there are in nature & though we content our selves in one in the running of milk, yet many will perform the same.... The runnett of cows is strong, for it coagulates the milk, but the runnett of cows as we have tried in several woman's milk will not coagulate the same'. [8]

'Womens milk will not coagulate with common runnet. Trie whether the milk of nurses that are conceived may be runne'.

'September. Tried in Mrs. Livist suspected to bee with child & it coagulated indifferently, butt much better than any other cleere woman & this was tried with disadvantage when the conception must be new....' 

His experiment with Mrs. Livist's milk suggests that hormonal changes during pregnancy might have affected its coagulation properties, and he noted that it worked better than milk from other women who weren't pregnant, despite the potential disadvantage of the conception being recent.

'Mrs Kings milk , October 23 (1650) would not runne, but only curdled in small roundles like pin heads, as vinegar will curdle milk'. [9]

He encountered varying degrees of success with different women's milk in his experiments. Mrs. King's milk didn't react as expected, producing small curds instead of coagulating properly. His comparison to vinegar's effect on milk suggests he was trying to understand why this happened.

Breakfast Piece with Cheese and Goblet  Jacob Foppens van Es (Flemish, c. 1596 – 1666)

Coagulation in alchemy

Browne's notebooks includes a query in which coagulation is viewed as an alchemical stage in the formation of planet Earth, 'the first masse' at the Creation, stating- 

'Whether the first masse were butt a coagulation wherby the water & earth lay awhile together, & the watery or serous part was separated from the sole and continuating substance'.

In alchemy, coagulation represents the process of materializing the subtle, spiritual essence into a tangible form. This stage is often associated with the formation of the Philosophers' Stone, where the alchemist's inner transformation manifests outwardly. Coagulation is also linked to the concept of manifestation, where thoughts and intentions take on physical form, illustrating the alchemical idea that the inner world shapes the outer reality. The alchemical maxim Solve et coagula represents the dual process of breaking down (solve) and reassembling the material and spiritual essence (coagula). This fundamental alchemical maxim may be equated to the symbolism and polarity of Cancer-Capricorn. It's a crucial maxim in understanding the transformative nature of alchemy equal to the commonplace lead to gold quest of both spiritual and proto-chemistry.

Little-known Browne

Remarkably, in chapter z of Pseudodoxia Epidemica  Browne writes of cooking cheese -

'If we provide ourselves with about a Selibra or half pound of the Cheese, entitulated Duplex Glocestrius, or Double Gloucester; and then go on to cut the intrinsic caseous Matter into tenuous Segments or Laminæ; and, positing such Segments within the coquinary commodity distinguished by Culinarians as the Furnus Bataviæ or Dutch Oven, submit the same to the Fire, until by the action of the Caloric they become mollified unto Semiliquidity: whereupon, if we diffuse the caseous fluid on an Offula of Bread, the Superfices whereof hath been previously torrefied, and then Season the same with a slight aspersion of the Sinapine, Piperine, and Saline Condiments, or with Mustard, Pepper, and Salt, we shall find that the Sapor and Fragor thereof differ in no wise from the Gust and Odour of the Edible we had præ-attained from the Covent Garden Coenatorium; and consequentially that the Welsh Rabbit is not, as the Vulgar Pseudodox conceiteth, a species of Cuniculus vernacular to Wales, but as was before predicated, simply a Savoury and Redolent Scitamentum or Rarebit, which is much existimated by the Cymri or Welsh people, who, from time prætermemorial, have been cognized as a Philocaseous or Cheese-loving Nation. [10]

Today,  the most famous promoter of cheese is the the Northern-accented inventor Wallace and his pet beagle Gromit. Wallace's favourite cheese is Wensleydale which was originally produced from a monastery of French Cistercian monks once resident in northern England in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. However, this style of cheese fell to low production during the early 1990s, but its popularity was revitalized by frequent references to Wensleydale cheese in the Wallace & Gromit series.

Images

Top header: Feta cheese

Next : Frontispiece to De re Culinaria

Next : Floris van Dyck, Still Life with Fruit, Nuts and Cheese, 1613, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands.

Next: Breakfast Piece with Cheese and Goblet  Jacob Foppens van Es (Flemish, c. 1596 – 1666)

Links

Notes on cookery of the ancients

From a reading of Athenaeus

On Epicurus

Notes

[1] British Museum Sloane MS no.1827 Latin original Collected Works of Sir Thomas Browne ed. Simon Wilkin pub. Fletcher and Son Norwich 1835-36

[2] 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue page 22 no. 105

[3] 1711 Catalogue page 7 no.67

[4] Christian Morals Part 2 Section 1

[5] Pseudodoxia Epidemica Book 7 chapter 16 divers other relations 8. 

[6]  Homer The Odyssey trans. Robert Fagles Penguin 1996 Book 9 lines 150-51 and 275-8

[7] Job 10:10

[8] The Miscellaneous Writings of Sir Thomas Browne ed. Geoffrey Keynes pub.Faber and Faber 1931 reissued 1946

[9] Ibid.

[10] In fact a parody of Browne and not by him whatsoever !  See  On Welsh Rabbit

Sub rosa amore Liddy Mercurius ❤️ et Saturnus 

Vulcan's Aquarium

In reply to a recent enquiry, what exactly is 'the Aquarium of Vulcan' from which this blog is named, its useful to refer to the ancient Greek  literary figure of Athenaeus, author of the Deipnsophistae or 'Banquet of the Philosophers'  the allusive source of the little-known myth of Vulcan's love-gift to Venus.

But first, by far the better-known myth associated with Vulcan is that of the goddess Venus  caught in bed with Mars, trapped by her husband Vulcan throwing an 'invisible net' over the pair of lovers. The Roman poet Ovid supplied rich material for many Renaissance-era artists in his Metamorphoses including a description of how Vulcan responded when discovering Venus and Mars in bed together.

'At once, he began to to fashion slender bronze chains, nets and snares which the eye could not see. The thinnest threads spun on the loom, or cobwebs hanging from rafters are no finer than was that workmanship. Moreover, he made them so that they would yield to the lightest touch, and to the smallest movement. These he set skillfully around his bed.

When his wife and her lover lay down together upon that couch they were caught by the chains, ingeniously fastened there by her husband's skill, and they were held fast in the very act of embracing. Immediately, Vulcan  flung open the ivory doors, and admitted the gods. There lay Venus and Mars, close bound together, a shameful sight. The gods were highly amused; ... They laughed aloud, and for long this was the best-known story in heaven'. [1] 

Vulcan enmeshing Venus and Mars in his net was a popular subject for many Renaissance artists including Velasquez, Tintoretto, Piero di Cosimo, Van Dyck and Rubens. Northern Mannerists artists in particular, such as Wtewael, Spranger and Heemskercke were all attracted to the myth.

Tintoretto in his 'Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan' dated 1551-1552 (below) has Vulcan interrupting Venus and Mar's love-making without his net. Examining by invitation her beauty, in close proximity, Vulcan is momentarily distracted from detecting a seemingly timorous Mars hiding under a bed. 

The Dutch Northern Mannerist artist Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638) painted the moment in which Venus and Mars are surprised by Vulcan in three differing versions (below). The main protagonists of the celestial drama with their respective attributes can all be seen in Wtewael's elaborate staging, including Mercury with his caduceus, Saturn with his scythe along with Vulcan preparing to fling his net over the lovers.

Bartholomew Spranger (1546-1611) was a Flemish artist who worked as a Court artist for the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The erotic content of  his 'Vulcan and Venus' (below) is overt with its emphasis upon the Beauty and the Beast aspect of the relationship. The art critic Linda Murray notes of the main  thematic and stylist traits of  Mannerist art - 

'Mannerism can be quite easily recognised and defined: in general it is equated with a concentration on the nude, often in bizarre and convoluted poses, and with exaggerated muscular development; with subject matter either deliberately obscure, or treated so that it becomes difficult to understand -the main incident pushed into the background or swamped with irrelevant figures serving as excuses for displays of virtuosity in figure painting; with extremes of perspective, distorted proportions or scale -figures jammed into too small a space so that one has the impression that any movement would burst the confines of the picture space; with vivid colour schemes, employing discordant contrasts, effects of 'shot' colour, not for descriptive or naturalistic purposes, but as a powerful adjunct to the emotional impact of the picture'. [2]  

Its a seemingly unequal pairing of a submissive Vulcan and dominant Venus in Spranger's interpretation of the two gods relationship.  

With its unusual perspective, depiction of ancient world mythology and eroticism, Maarten van Heemskerck's (1498-1574)  'Venus, Mars and Vulcan'  (below) is closely associated with Northern Mannerist art in subject-matter along with exploring expressions of sexuality. Confident in her seductive qualities, its a not-so demure-looking Venus who gazes into the viewer's eyes in Heemskerck's painting. 

The Graeco-Roman myth of  Mars trapped by Vulcan's net  is included in the hermetic phantasmagoria of the English physician-philosopher Thomas Browne's 'network' discourse, The Garden of Cyrus (1658) its full running title being The Garden of Cyrus, or the Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the Ancients, Naturally, Artificially, Mystically considered.

'As for that famous network of Vulcan, which enclosed Mars and Venus, and caused that inextinguishable laugh in heaven; since the gods themselves could not discern it, we shall not pry into it. Although why Vulcan bound them, Neptune loosed them, and Apollo should first discover them, might afford no vulgar mythology'.

And in fact the highly symbolic figure of Vulcan opens Browne's hermetic discourse, ('That Vulcan gave arrows to Apollo  and Diana') and ushers its apotheosis in which 'Vulcan and his whole forge sweat to work out Achilles his armour'. 

On a mundane level the appeal of the myth of Venus and Mars surprised by Vulcan may be viewed as social commentary upon the rise of adultery in urban Europe. During the Renaissance, with the increase and mix of population in European cities, opportunities for extra-marital affairs grew. The myth served well as a moral warning to its viewers.  Renaissance painters also seized upon the myth of Venus and Mars and its symbolism in order to comment upon war-torn Europe of the late 16th and early 17th centuries for from the union of Venus, the goddess of Peace and Mars, the god of war, a child named Harmony was born. From an esoteric perspective the union of Venus and Mars is a lesser example of the 'coniunctio' or union of opposites in alchemy which was more often symbolized by the luminaries Sol et Luna.

Although Vulcan was famed for his inventiveness, making armour for the hero Achilles and a chair for his mother-in-law from which she could not escape when sitting on, no painting has survived of  his constructing an aquarium for Venus. In any event, Casaubon's edition of Athenaeus's 'Banquet of the Philosophers' was not published until 1612 and therefore no painting of this subject before this date is possible.  There is however at least one Renaissance painting in which Venus is depicted visiting her husband Vulcan's forge, perhaps for the purpose of requesting a love-gift. 

In the Dutch painter Jan van Kessel's 'Venus at the forge of Vulcan'  of 1662 (below) the stark contrast between the naked vulnerability of Venus and the metallic accoutrements of protective armour scattered in its foreground is notable. 

Thomas Browne for one knew that a close relationship existed between the goddess Venus, water and fish. In his commonplace notebooks the following verse couplet can be found-

'Who will not commend the wit of Astrology ? 

Venus born of the sea hath her exaltation in Pisces'. 

Its possible that Thomas Browne knew of the myth of Vulcan's Aquarium for Isaac Casaubon's 1612 edition of Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae, or 'The Banquet of the Philosophers'  is listed as once in his library. Browne also wrote a short, humorous piece entitled 'From a reading of Athenaeus'. [3]

Athenaeus lived in Naucratis circa the late 2nd to early 3rd century CE In his day Naucratis was an important Egyptian  harbor and a dynamic melting-pot of Greek and Egyptian art and culture. Its also the setting of 'The Banquet of the Philosophers' in which characters such as physicians, philosophers, grammarians, parasites and musicians discuss topics as diverse as Baths, Wine, invented words, feasts and music, useless philosophers, precious metals, flatterers, gluttony and drunkenness, hedonism and obesity, women and love, mistresses and courtesans, the cooking of fish and cuisine in general, ships, entertainment, luxury and  perfumes.

In total the 15 books of the 'Banquet  of the  philosophers',  mention almost  800 authors. Over 2500 separate works are cited in it, making it a valuable source of numerous works of Greek literature which otherwise would have been lost, which includes three surviving lines on Vulcan's aquarium. 

James Russell Lowell famously characterized the Deipnosophistae as -'the somewhat greasy heap of a literary rag-and-bone-picker like Athenaeus is turned to gold by time'. In the seventeenth century there was a revived interest in the Banquet of the Philosophers following its publication by the scholar Isaac Casaubon  (1559-1614) in 1612. The  commentary to the text was Isaac Causabon’s magnum opus. Incidentally it was the scholarship of Isaac Causabon which proved from his textual analysis of  the Corpus Hermeticum that it could not have been written by the mythic ancient Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus who anticipated the coming of Christ, as commonly believed, but in fact was a syncretic work of  Gnostic and Greek philosophy dated centuries after Christ's era, circa 200 and 300 CE.

By all accounts Athenaeus was a favourite author of Thomas Browne for he stated in his encyclopaedic endeavour Pseudodoxia Epidemica-

'Athenæus, a delectable Author, very various, and justly stiled by Casaubon, Græcorum Plinius (Greek Pliny) . There is extant of his, a famous Piece, under the name of Deipnosophista, or Coena Sapientum, containing the Discourse of many learned men, at a Feast provided by Laurentius. It is a laborious Collection out of many Authors, and some whereof are mentioned nowhere else. It containeth strange and singular relations, not without some spice or sprinkling of all Learning. The Author was probably a better Grammarian then Philosopher, dealing but hardly with Aristotle and Plato, and betrayeth himself much in his Chapter De Curiositate Aristotelis. In brief, he is an Author of excellent use, and may with discretion be read unto great advantage: [4]

From his reading of Athenaeus Browne knew of ancient world sexual activities -   

'The impudent wantonness of the ancients placed sponges in the natural parts of women that by expanding they might produce a lewd and as it were haunching movement in the female, whence a keener lust is provoked in the male. In the elaborations of coition almost nothing has been untried, so that the indecent egg of Marcellus Empiricus is no marvel. Away with these foolish toys of lust'. 

Its in book 2 of  'Banquet of the Philosophers'  that Athenaeus records how the blacksmith of the gods Vulcan set about creating sheets of glass which he bonded together with an early version of tungsten steel. Tungsten is one of the oldest elements used for alloying steel. It forms a very hard carbide and iron tungstite. High tungsten content in the alloy however tends to cause brittleness and makes it subject to fracturing rather than bending. Somehow Vulcan over came this weakness, its speculated through adding 'the salty sweat' of his workshop labourers to the molten crucible. 

The little-known myth is recounted in the Deipnosophistae after heated discussion upon the best sauces to prepare for fish.  The  courtesan and lute-player musician Callipygae recites three verses from a long-lost comedy, now known only by the title of The Chessmen of Odysseus. Its believed that the following lines specifically allude to Vulcan's aquarium -

 As the Pleiades ascended, Vulcan's workshop laboured,

the sound of hammer on anvil could be heard 

echoing through mountains

 until rosy dawn glowed furnace-like in the east. 

 Salty sweat streamed in torrents into hissing troughs, 

smelting and refining the dross. 

Crafted and ready 

to bind with ox-like ribs the thick and cloudy glass,

Vulcan's love-gift  for Venus. 

[6]  (Book 2 Lines 27-29 ) 

Aquariums are mysterious habitats which often evoke great underwater beauty. They function well as calming distractions and their psychological benefits include reducing stress. Looking into an aquarium, observing fish swimming care-free, helps people momentarily forget their worries. 

The symbol of the aquarium invites speculation and analysis. For the seminal twentieth century psychologist C.G. Jung -

'The protean mythologem and the shimmering symbol express the processes of the psyche far more trenchantly than, in the end, far more clearly than the clearest concept.' [7] 

Perhaps Venus made her request to test the fullness of Vulcan's forgiveness, or else to alleviate her boredom with Vulcan spending long hours away from her at the forge, or simply for her amusement and pleasure, its not really known. Nor is it known how many or what kind of fish she choose to place in her aquarium. But whether Vulcan manufactured his love-gift for Venus specifically for any of these reasons remains unclear. What is clear is that the fish in the Aquarium of Vulcan are far more playful than previously imagined. 

Notes

[1] Ovid Metamorphosis  Book 4 lines 180-190

[2] The High Renaissance and Mannerism Linda Murray Thames and Hudson 1977

[3]  1711 Sales Auction Catalogue page 7 no. 67

[4]  Pseudodoxia Epidemica . Bk.1 chapter 8

[5] From a reading of Athenaeus 

[6] Deipnosophistae Book 2 lines 27-29

[7] Collected Works of C.G.Jung vol. 13  Alchemical Studies (1967) para. 199